biology

On April 25, 1953, Francis Crick and James Watson published the "Molecular Structure of Nucleic Acids: A Structure for Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid." This was the first paper to introduce the double helix structure of DNA. As Carl Sagan would say, DNA is the "language of life" and this complex...

On April 16, 1990, "Doctor Death" Jack Kevorkian began his campaign of assisted suicide, sparking an ethical debate over the practice of physician-assisted suicide and a terminal patient's right to die. Dr. Kevorkian claimed to have assisted in over 130 patient suicides, where he famously stated...

Just a few weeks before my grandmother died, I was sitting in the living room with her and a neighbor that had come over her house to visit. Although I didn't know she had cancer at this time, you could just tell something was very wrong with her. During the conversation, she kept talking about...

For those of you who think octopuses spend their life exclusively deep in the ocean, you're in for a big surprise. During a trip to Yallingup, Western Australia, a crab was being recorded on video. Suddenly, an octopus jumped out of the water, grabbed the crab, and then used its tentacles to...

On March 27, 1915, "Typhoid Mary" Mallon was the first person in the United States ever to be identified as an asymptomatic carrier of the pathogen. An immigrant from Ireland, she was employed as a cook for wealthy families throughout New York City. As typhoid fever was associated with poverty...

With a high speed camera, scientists are able to observe, record and simulate the motions and movements of hummingbirds in a variety of conditions--from normal, hot sunny days, to high wind and rain. And it doesn't matter if it's rainy and windy. Since these birds have such a high metabolism...

A neuroanatomist talks about the day she suffered a massive stroke. Her experience provides a rare insight into the workings of the brain, particularly because these recollections of the stroke come from an actual brain scientist--an expert who has spent years studying the brain. It's a...

Approved by the FDA in 2013, the Sedasys machine could someday change the way people undergo anesthesia for surgeries. Some anesthesiologists have tried to prevent the machine from being put into use, arguing that anesthesiology is too complex a science to be handled by a machine. However...

About us

The men who create power make an indespensible contribution to the nation's greatness. But the men who question power make a contribution just as indenspensible, especially when that questioning is disinterest, for they determine whether we use power, or power uses us.

If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, it expects what never was and never will be.